United States | Day of the jackals

What was the motive of Trump’s would-be assassin?

A frenzied media hunt is under way

Reporters speak to the a neighbour of the "subject involved", named as Thomas Crooks, in the assassination attempt of Donald Trump
Photograph: Reuters
|Bethel Park

BY 8.45AM, THE stretch of Milford Drive that was home to Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old who shot at Donald Trump, is already host to a traffic jam. Outside the Crookses’ home, dozens of journalists are setting up camp. Five gazebos sit on the carefully manicured grass, providing shade to news anchors, dressed in jackets, ties and comfortable trainers. Not much is happening. The vibe is that of a pride of lions lolling in the midday sun. A Reuters photographer brags about getting the shot of the morning. “Somebody is closing the drapes… you can just see the hand. Think, the hand of God, Maradona,” he jokes.

Explore more

From the July 20th 2024 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from United States

Xiaohongshu And TikTok Logos

A protest against America’s TikTok ban is mired in contradiction

Another Chinese app is not the alternative some young Americans think it is

Joe Biden drives a machine that's rolling out a carpet of the US flag for Donald Trump to walk on

How Joe Biden wound up serving Donald Trump

In some ways, his administration will look less like an interregnum than like MAGA-lite


Kids skate at the Venice Skatepark in LA, which is covered in ashes as smoke rises from the Palisades Fire

How bad will the smoke be for Angelenos’ health?

Expect more sickness and disrupted schooling


Should you have to prove your age before watching porn?

America’s Supreme Court weighs a Texan law aimed at protecting kids

Tulsi Gabbard, Sean Penn and the hunt for an American hostage

A controversial trip to Syria in 2017 produced a possible sighting of Austin Tice, an imprisoned journalist

How flush Americans feel depends on their views of Donald Trump

Republicans expect a Trumponomics boom, Democrats dread a bust